Tidal power: Making waves in alternative energy

Sunday

Oct 31, 2010 at 3:15 AMOct 31, 2010 at 5:54 AM

By JASON CLAFFEYjclaffey@fosters.com

Editor's note: This is the third story in a series examining the state of the alternative energy industry.

Plans to harness the power of the Piscataqua River's swift currents for electricity in New Hampshire have washed up in the short-term, but Maine is advancing to the forefront of the new wave of energy technology.

In the last several years, there was a swell of excitement at the prospect of installing underwater turbines in the Piscataqua, which has currents that run as fast as 5 knots. That's among the top 50 locations in North America in terms of tidal currents, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Two U.S companies filed permits to build turbines in the Piscataqua/Great Bay area. A 2008 study by a state commission headed by a former Dover lawmaker, however, determined a commercially viable operation was questionable at best due to the potential harm it could do to the Great Bay ecosystem and the interruptions it could cause to commercial and recreational boat traffic. Environmental concerns about the bay also were recently exacerbated with nitrogen from runoff from fertilized yards and other sources, which scientists say could endanger habitat and deplete wildlife populations.

About a year after the state study, the companies — Maryland-based Underwater Electric Kite and the New Hampshire Tidal Energy Company, a subsidiary of the Oceana Energy Company, based in Washington, D.C. — withdrew their permits. At the time, both companies indicated building turbines in the Piscataqua was not economically feasible.

Neither company returned phone messages this week.

Since those permits were withdrawn, no companies have filed new ones, according to Celeste Miller, spokeswoman for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees hydroelectric projects.

The lack of activity didn't surprise Tom Fargo, a scientist and the former Dover state representative who headed up the New Hampshire Tidal Energy Commission.

"It's an indication that this technology is not quite ready for prime time," Fargo said. "Things seem to be on hold."

The commission's research found that a turbine array in the Piscataqua would provide only a supplemental source of power to the region, much like Public Service of New Hampshire's wood chip-powered Schiller Station in Portsmouth. That project cost about $75 million and generates about 50 megawatts, enough to power about 40,000 homes. An equal-size turbine operation in the Piscataqua would cost significantly more because the technology is so new, Fargo said.

"To invest in the infrastructure needed to harvest (the energy), it would be a very, very long payback period," he said.

Indeed, the report characterized tidal technology as stuck in the "embryonic stage." It also found parts of the Piscataqua and Great Bay aren't deep or wide enough to support a commercial-size operation.

"It appears that the science and technology of ocean current and wave energy devices is lagging somewhat behind the entrepreneurial spirit," the report said.

There is hope, however. Researchers at the University of New Hampshire are studying the Piscataqua to determine the viability of commercial turbines and determine which design works best. The university's Center for Renewable Energy got a boost last year when it was awarded $750,000 in federal funds for the effort.

"We are presently planning our next generation of testing facilities and do not have any testing in progress," center director Ken Baldwin said.

North of the border in Maine, plans to actually install tidal turbines are gaining steam.

Next year, the Portland-based Ocean Renewable Power Company will begin an ambitious, multiphase project to build turbines in Cobscook Bay off Eastport near the Canadian border. The system will be connected to the Bangor Hydro-Electric grid. It will be the first of its kind in the country.

Coincidentally, Ocean Renewable explored the Piscataqua River but determined it was too narrow and not deep enough for commercial turbines. Long-range plans are to develop more than 100 megawatts of power, though much less will be produced initially.

The project has received support from state and federal agencies.

The Coast Guard in September 2009 awarded Ocean Renewable a $100,000 contract to set up infrastructure to supplement, with tidal power, the energy needs of the Coast Guard station in Eastport, Maine.

Also, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded Ocean Renewable a $10 million grant that was secured with the help of Republican U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. At the state level, the Maine Technology Asset Fund kicked in $1.2 million for the project. Also, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration granted Eastport $1.4 million to establish the Maine Marine Energy Center, a manufacturing facility that will produce turbine components for Ocean Renewable and other ocean energy companies. The facility could support up to 80 jobs.

Ocean Renewable President Chris Sauer said the project could bring hundreds of jobs to an economically depressed area.

"We're a real bright spot in a pretty dim outlook in that part of Maine," Sauer said. "There's a lot that's going to happen."

Though the technology is new, Sauer said he's confident his company's system will work.

The biggest hurdles are raising enough money and securing a series of permits from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

"If we have the approval and we have the money ... we'll be successful," Sauer said. "I like to tell people we've climbed the hills. Now we have to climb the mountains."

Gov. John Baldacci sees the Eastport project as part of his legacy of championing alternative energy, said spokeswoman Joy Leach. Maine has the most wind turbines in New England, and Baldacci set a goal of reducing the state's consumption of liquid fossil fuels by 30 percent by 2030. He will leave office next year due to term limits.

"The governor has made renewable energy development, energy conservation and weatherization key goals of his administration," Leach said.

Baldacci established a task force to study ocean energy and signed an agreement with Nova Scotia to work cooperatively on renewable projects.

"This is really the first wave of ocean energy development, and there's more to come," Baldacci said in a statement. "With tidal power generated here and by continuing to work on biofuels and biomass electricity generation, the development of solar, wind and hydropower, and other innovative ways to produce renewable energy, we are on our way to building a sustainable energy future for our state.

"This is the right choice for the state: decreasing our dependence on fossil fuels by harnessing our natural resources, creating valuable jobs here at home, and preserving our environment and quality of life."